Construct · 2 fields · 4 citations

Where does evidence collide?

One name. Different field. Different construct. One map.

● jingle · one word, two constructs Nearest construct by meaningtestimonycompare the meanings
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Every construct on the map is compared with every other by the meaning of its definitions, and the closest one is surfaced here. The nearest construct to evidence is testimony.

Hold this as a prompt, not a verdict. Two constructs sitting close in meaning is a reason to read them side by side and decide for yourself whether they are one idea under two names. It is not proof that they are. Compare the meanings in the Collider.

evidence2 CONSTRUCTSEpistemic evidenceLOCKE · GROUND OF BELIEFClinical evidenceCOCHRANE · CLINICAL PROOF

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1689Epistemic evidence1972Clinical evidence
2026

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Epistemology

The ground that justifies a belief

In the theory of knowledge, evidence is what justifies holding a belief, the ground that makes accepting a claim rational. John Locke's 1689 An Essay Concerning Human Understanding argued that a rational mind should proportion its assent to a claim to the evidence for it, giving firm belief only where the grounds are strong. Conee and Feldman's 1985 Evidentialism sharpened this into a named position: whether a person is justified in a belief depends entirely on the evidence they possess at that time. Here evidence is a relation between what a person has to go on and what they may rationally believe, not material offered in a courtroom or the study designs ranked in clinical medicine.[1][2]

Unit
A body of grounds bearing on one claim, weighed as support for or against believing it
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Analysed by how well the available grounds justify a given degree of belief, and formalised in probabilistic accounts of confirmation

Clinical medicine

Graded study results guiding clinical practice

In clinical medicine, evidence-based practice treats the results of rigorous studies, ranked by how well their design guards against bias, as the basis for decisions about patient care. Archibald Cochrane's 1972 Effectiveness and Efficiency pressed medicine to base treatment on controlled trials rather than custom, seeding the movement. Sackett and colleagues' 1996 Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't gave the approach its working definition, joining the best external evidence with clinical expertise and patient values. Here evidence is graded empirical support for a treatment, drawn from trials and reviews, not admissible courtroom material or the philosophical ground of a belief.[3][4]

Unit
A study, or a synthesis of studies, placed on a hierarchy by its design
Recovery means
Not applicable
Measured by
Graded by evidence hierarchies and appraisal tools that rank randomised trials and systematic reviews above observational and anecdotal reports

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Nearby collisions

proof2 fields · 5 citationsjingle · one word, two constructsbelief4 fields · 4 citationsjingle · one word, four constructstestimony3 fields · 8 citationsjingle · one word, three constructs

References

  1. Locke, J. (1689). An essay concerning human understanding. Thomas Basset.
  2. Conee, E., & Feldman, R. (1985). Evidentialism. Philosophical Studies, 48(1), 15–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00372404
  3. Cochrane, A. L. (1972). Effectiveness and efficiency: Random reflections on health services. Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust. ISBN 9780900574177
  4. Sackett, D. L., Rosenberg, W. M. C., Gray, J. A. M., Haynes, R. B., & Richardson, W. S. (1996). Evidence based medicine: what it is and what it isn't. BMJ, 312(7023), 71–72. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.312.7023.71

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